Oath of Medicine - Paladin

Disclaimer

The views of the author are strictly personal, hoping that no one would feel offended by those. Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop RPG where health problems and serious issues can be solved with a literal wave of a magic wand. Let’s acknowledge to this illusion and consider that most of the time evil – and therefore diseases – is personified and portrayed by foul monsters or characters. You should also feel free at any time to adapt any part of this subclass to suit your personal beliefs, morals and ethics.

Oath of Medicine

As some paladins are devoted to a righteous life, sometimes allowing the sick and injured to be cured with their powers, a few amongst them devote their life to this cause and therefore follow the tenets of a god related to medicine. Some others are not as pious as those paladins, sometimes not even religious at all, but yet are adamant about their commitment and care about common people, doing everything within their power to protect them.

When diseases and epidemics spread paladins of the Oath of Medicine often have solutions and a sword to offer: they can heal those who are suffering and are also willing track down the sources of these outbreaks. More than physicians, the paladins of the Oath of Medicine are also sleuths and hunters, and folks consider them as the resolute and fighting pendant of the Life Domain of the clerics. However, sometimes they are involved or hired in ambiguous inquiries and are often mistaken for beast hunters, exorcists or simply mercenaries.

 

Tenets of Medicine

Medicine might be the oldest science and has long since evolved, so have its ethics. Whatever might be the patronage of the paladins of the Oath of Medicine – if there is any – those tenets even may contradict each other through time or from one place to another. But since paladins of the Oath of Medicine are usually dedicated to a greater good, their tenets may be as follow:

 Autonomy. Always listen, understand and respect a patient, they retain control over their body and mind.

 Thoughtfulness. Always, strive to improve your patients’ health, whoever they are, in their own interest and without harming them.

 Confidentiality. Respect secrecy of the profession and the physician-patient privilege. When offering treatments to your patients, you should be able to justify your actions in every situation.

 Investigation. Try to cure diseases or illnesses by looking for its source and then isolate or contain it. Elimination should always be your last resort. You should also always be able to justify your undertaken actions.

 

Medical Pantheon Not every D&D setting has its own deity of medicine. If you’re willing to associate you character with a deity, it would be appropriate to choose a deity of healing or protection and the domain of Life. In this way a paladin following the Oath of Medicine would possibly follow the tenets of deities such as Helm, Pelor, Mishakal or The Silver Flame for instance. For Fantasy-Historical Pantheons, Diancecht (a Celtic deity), Apollo (a Greek deity) or Imhotep (an Egyptian deity) could be replaced by Belenos or Borvo, Hermes or Asclepius, and Thoth respectively to be more accurate.

 

 Optional: Revised Divine Smite (level 2)

This ability is described as in the Player’s Handbook, except for its last part: « The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is a poisonous creature or is carrying disease ».

Optional: Improved Lay On Hands (level 11)

At 11th level, instead of the Improved Divine Smite feature, you may choose one of the following features:

• You no longer need an action to use the Lay On Hands feature but a bonus action instead.
• Add one and a half times your current paladin level to the amount of your pool of healing.

 

Oath Spells

Oath Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

 Oath of Medicine Spells

Paladin Level	Spells
3rd	detect poison and disease, hunter’s mark
5th	calm emotions, zone of truth
9th	mass healing word, speak with dead
13th	dominate beast, freedom of movement
17th	mass cure wounds, legend lore

 

 

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

Medical Examination. You use your Channel Divinity to get a quick medical check-up of your surroundings. As an action, when you cast the detect poison and disease spell, you no longer need to concentrate to maintain the spell and at 9th, 13th and 17th level the range of this Channel Divinity increases by 10 feet.

Sanitize Area. You use your Channel Divinity to sanitize your surroundings. As an action, when you cast the detect poison and disease spell, you can expend 5 hit points from your pool of healing, adding 1d6 extra radiant damage to any poisonous or carrying disease creature within the spell range. You can also add 1d6 radiant damage for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d6, by expending 5 more hit points from your pool of healing per spell level. Once you have casted this spell, you can’t do any extra radiant damage this way, unless you cast this spell again.

Aura of Cleanliness

Starting at 7th level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you can’t be poisoned while you are conscious.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

By the Rod and By the Snake

 At 20th level, your ability to heal and to prevent poisonous attack or diseases reaches its peak.

As an action, you become an avatar of health and medicine, gaining the following benefits for 1 minute:

• You and friendly creatures within your auras range gain 30 temporary hit points.
• You and the friendly creatures within your auras range are immune to poison damages.
• Any diseased creature within your auras range is cured.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Rigorous Treatment

Starting at 15th level, you are always under the effects of a Lesser Restoration spell regarding diseases. However, you would still have to cast Lesser Restoration as far as conditions are concerned.

You also gain advantage on your attack rolls when you attack a poisonous or poisoned creature.